Big stuff

I slurped my banana shake and grabbed the bag with the fruit salad that my hosts had packed me for the trip. The driver of the white Ambassador introduced himself as Cletas, he was shortish stuck up to his armpits in his pants. - We drove off. The sun was rising over the Kotla players already warming up on the sports field of Fort Cochin.

A handful of waiting tourists had gathered at the water's edge of the shallow river. The atmosphere was peaceful, except for eventual blast that sounded across from the other bank: People were fishing. Then some excitement rose, and when I checked a trial size baby girl elephant shuffled down the path, accompanied by two trainers. It was really tiny, looked scrawny and shaky, with protruding bones and dry eyes. An explanation fell into place a bit later when I learned that all the elephants in the camp were orphans, picked up in the wild. - After a while a bigger youngster came along, followed by the rest, consisting of two large females and yet another cub. The animals started spraying water at themselves using their trunks for hoses. Then the trainers told them to lie down on the roundish rocks in the shallow water, a command they followed without protest. No wonder: They would get scrubbed thoroughly, head to toe, trunk to tail. The trainers used coconut shells for that, the inner bristles of the nut working like a brush. Soon some tourists joined the scrubbing frenzy, and the elephants didn't mind. They looked very relaxed, with their eyes rolled back, eventually dropping some junks of poop in the water. A trainer grabbed them and threw them out in the river. - "One side OK": After around 20 minutes the elephants were told to turn, and the some more scrubbing was due. - One of the big elephant ladies picked our pantlegs and inspected our feet with her trunk, and when one of the youngsters was done we posed for a picture together. The boy made sure I smiled by tickling my ear...

The animals started their procession back to the camp, and so did the people in their cars. Much like the staircases they have at airports there were steps for boarding an Elephant. 200 Rupees a ride. But really, they could have asked for anything. However, it turned out they failed to inform me I had to take my sandals off prior to mounting, so a trainer ripped them off and tucked my feet under the rope that worked as the elephant's collar (in order not to mess with the elephant's ears), much in a manner as if I was an elephant myself. I trumpeted back at him as my right foot was still in pain. And I was a bit worried about the fact that if the elephant flexed he could turn my feet to pulp like a ripe papaya. But regardless, the ride was memorable in a good way. Riding an elephant you pretty much sit on the top of his shoulder blades, so you constantly shift from side to side. - Cletas took pictures again, while being shy at first he now got pretty much into it and started making suggestions for better viewpoints once I had the camera back.

After the ride we occasionally observed how one of the elephants was put to work, stacking up a bunch of cut plants, picking it up and dragging it along a path. - That was impressive.

We stopped for lunch in a basic traditional restaurant in a small town. Supposedly it was a good place, but instead of a menu card it had a lot of flies, so I decided to move on. Eventually we had a tasty lunch with Kerala rice featuring jumbo sized grains.

The road took us up into valleys of woodland, and after about an hour we passed the gate to the National Park for an entrance fee of 40 Rupees total. In this scenic and soulful resort you find Waterfalls galore! The main river first falls down a wide and not too steep slope, for a stretch of maybe 200 meters. And after flowing peacefully for about another 1000 meter it throws itself straight down a cliff, separating in 3 streams, one of which a bit further left and around the corner, so when for instance standing at the bottom you would see a waterfall straight on and two from the side. - Quite possibly the most picturesque Waterfall I've seen so far!

In between the waterfall sites we crossed a bridge over a small river (including another waterfall). The water formed several ponds on the way down to the stream, and I asked Cletas if that would be a good spot for a dip (I was prepared wearing my swimsuit underneath). He parked and took me along a path leading down from the road and eventually out of the forest onto the rocks of the riverbed. I hopped across the stones up to a beautiful spot, perfect for a bath. I couldn't believe it: After having had always some sort of company in this crowded country ever since I had arrived, there was absolutely nobody in sight (except for Cletas who watched on from a distance). The waterfall upstream as well as the one downstream laid around a bend, and the river had a calm temper in that stretch. I was just a bit hesitant to get in for the matter of dangerous animals. It all looked harmless, but after all this was India! I pictured myself pulling out a leg full of leeches or being ambushed by hundreds of water snakes (I had seen one the day before) the moment I set foot in the water. I went for it. Looked around... Nothing happened. A dragonfly was posing atop of a rock in the river. I moved a few meters through the warm water in order to reach a set of more remote stone islands, which was a bit tricky because the water was quite dirty and wouldn't let me see the rock formations I was on. I climbed out and stood up straight, and just in that moment a warm breeze rose up. I took a deep breath and savored this moment of peace.

Minutes later, I was already starting to redress, I heard a whistle and a shout: One of the two park rangers (the old grumpy one) that were positioned at the bridge head had come down to the point where my driver was standing and ordered me to get going. I just ignored him and took my time. Finally I started going back. Cletas translated what the ranger had said: The water was deep. - Yes, eventually it was deep enough for swimming, but what's the point? Anyway, the three of us climbed back up onto the street, where the stern ranger underlined his statement by tapping with his stick fiercely against a sign at the beginning of the path and giving us another look of loathing. It made the whole experience just so much better.

We made it back to the homestay by 7... This was a 12,5 hour trip. Santosh had actually asked me to take some pictures for his trip advertisement. Well I took around 500.

I had been wondering where on Earth all the other tourists of Fort Cochin would have their dinner, and finally I found the corner with two seafood restaurants with packed patios. I felt like fish and pasta, thus ordered the "Fish Pasta" at the place "Salt & Pepper" - It was terrific! I also had a beer in a teapot and a cup... The restaurant wasn't licenced.